Furniture And Fanfare Mark Museum Dedication

May 25, 1986|By Marilyn Weeks, Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE -- The brochure caught his eye, but so did the $1,500 price tag. John Ware tossed the once-in-a-lifetime offer in the wastebasket.

But that night, as Ware slept, his wife, Doris, plucked the Old Capitol restoration brochure from the garbage, the first step in a three-year plot to secure a spot in Florida history for the veteran legislator.

``He`d spent so much time up there ... There just had to be something there for John,`` she said.

The brass plaque bearing Ware`s name is now on one of 100 golden oak desk and chair sets in the Old Capitol House and Senate chambers. In addition to the brass recognition plaque, each of the donors -- individuals, corporations, service groups, an Indian tribe, and a city -- received a matching desk and chair for themselves.

``We wanted to involve the people in the process. There were 100 sets for the public at $1,500 a set,`` said Lee Warner, director of the Museum of Florida History. ``The project involved most Floridians with wide geographical distribution. There were some corporations, but there also are some ordinary human beings who wanted to participate.``

The furniture, hand-crafted using two original 1902 sets as models, was dedicated last month during the week-long celebration to mark the end of the restoration and officially open the Old Capitol as a museum.

Friends and families attending the reception sipped champagne, munched on fresh strawberries and creme and rare prime beef morsels, and shared quiet moments of pride around the desk bearing their name. One of the most surprised was Ware.

Now a Pinellas County circuit court judge, Ware`s ties to the state capital began with college, included jobs in the Attorney General`s office, former Gov. LeRoy Collins` administration, and two legislative delegations, and ended with 14 years as a state senator and representative.

``I thought the thing was going to fall apart several times,`` said Mrs. Ware, relating how the donor`s duplicate desk has been hidden, first at her design studio and later at the home of a close friend.

And when it was finally time for the dedication three years after the brochure was sent to past and present legislators, Ware`s chief judge sent him here to handle a couple of bills and an old family friend invited him out to dinner, with a stop by the Old Capital to see how it looked.

``I was thoroughly surprised,`` said Ware, of his reaction to finding his wife and other friends and family members standing at his desk as he entered the chamber. ``I told her I had just tried to call her and she wasn`t home.``

Ware, who was in the Senate during the fight to save the old structure, said that it was time to ``move on`` to a newer, larger capital, but ``I`m glad we have that lovely dome in front of us.``

So is former Senator, Phil Lewis, D-West Palm Beach, who as Appropriations Committee chairman led the fight for fund restoration of the building. That support is reflected in his reasons for wanting his family name on one of the meticulously recreated turn-of-the-century desks.

``I think it`s imperative that South Florida become aware of the rich heritage of North Florida,`` said Lewis. ``When the boys landed at Plymouth Rock, St. Augustine was eligible for urban renewal.``

``Sooner or later the public is going to have to make this a unified state, and the better off all of us are going to be,`` he said.

It was in the spirit of history that the St. Augustine city fathers joined the project. The nation`s oldest city is the one honored in the chambers.

``St. Augustine has a very long history. And our involvement in restoration and appreciation of antiquity is deeply engrained,`` said Mayor Kenneth Beeson. ``We decided to do it for St. Augustine. The duplicate desk is in the city commission conference room.``

Former Broward Senator J. W. ``Bill`` Stevens, Parkland, recalled sitting in his office in the new Senate Office Building and watching the restoration work on the old domed building.

``When the brochure came, I thought it was a neat idea, and wanted to be part of it,`` Stevens said. ``My daughter in Orlando got the duplicate desk. It`ll always be in the family.``

Other donors included the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Hollywood; Keith and Schnars, consulting engineering firm of Fort Lauderdale; Palm Beach County Reps. Ray Liberti and Jim Watt; and Secretary of State George Firestone.